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Bread that young kids like

Bread that young kids like

Hi all. This is my first post here. I live in Canberra, Australia and have a 7yo daughter.

I recently started baking bread again after quite a few failed attempts earlier. And finally produced a few loaves that I like. It's the recipe that's on the first page of the only bread baking book I own which I slightly adapted and it works every time.

I mix all except yeast and let it sit for 30 mins. Then knead in the breadmaker. I let it rise on top of the fridge - only takes about 45 mins to double in size, punch down, second rise in bread pan on top of fridge - only takes 20-25 mins. Bake at 190C for 35 mins.

I find the crumb and crust rather fantastic and I also like the taste. But my daughter disagrees unfortunately. It is hard to find out what it is she doesn't like about it. I had "It has a funny taste" and "It's too chewy". And I'm wondering if she can detect a yeast taste where my old taste buds can't?

I know that is a really fast rise, but I love that I am able to quickly bake a loaf after work. I did try to half the yeast last night, but it rose so slowly that I lost patience and ended up putting it in the oven (after 10pm!) too early so it was too small and dense. I could live with doing a rise in the fridge while I'm at work, but just don't have time to wait hours for dough to rise when I have to be there to watch that it doesn't over-proof.

Has anyone had this issue with their kids not liking the bread and have you been able to solve it? I must admit she is used to eating soft light wholegrain and wonder white type breads. But gently-gently, slowly-slowly is the key to changing tastes!

I grew up in Belgium which must have some of the best bakeries in the world (no bias here of course, haha!) and my 3 older sisters all loved the dark, dense pumpernickel bread as well as the very sour traditional German sourdough. I always preferred the lighter breads too though.

Your rise sounds quick to me. I'd say reduce the yeast 25%, not 50%, and see if the baking session still fits in your schedule. Also move more slowly toward what you want to bake. As you said, she is used to eating soft light wholegrain and wonder white type. Start with soft, light whole grain, and adjust it very, very slowly, perhaps also adding other items or flavors of interest as you do. And do try it with half the yeast, but just on weekends when you have time for that.

And maybe add something SHE likes to it (let her pick), e.g. walnuts, or sunflower seeds, or raisins, and let her help with part of the baking. Then she'll be involved with, and perhaps more interested in, the final product.

When my mother first tried to introduce me to real bread, from a bakery, I did not like it because she offered it to me the same way as she did the Wonder bread - with a mono-molecular layer of whatever spread upon it. The extra substance to the bread made it so dry to chew without more spread that I was very reluctant to eat it. It was also more filling for the same, adult-sized, slice. Slices that were either smaller or thinner, with more goodies on the bread to provide moisture, would probably have helped me to like it better.

In the meantime, I've moved on to trying a new recipe. I liked the idea of using semolina flour so tried an Altamura loaf today. But I really didn't like working with such wet dough.

I've also noticed that my doughs turn out wetter here than how they look in the recipe pictures or descriptions. It's either the type of bread flour, the climate or the water - I'm not sure if I can ever be bothered finding out which! So my dough really turned into batter and - being inexperienced aswell - I just could not shape it at all, so it turned into a more Ciabatta style loaf. It's cooling now, haven't tried it yet. I did only use 3 grams of yeast in it and that seemed to work ok.

I'll see if we like the taste and if we do, maybe I'll try to find some lower hydration part semolina loaf recipes. Or try the 100% semolina sandwich loaf...

Though that is moving away from my goal of getting to a bread with more fibre. But it's fun to experiment anyway.

Just had to come back to comment that the Altamura bread was really, really nice. My daughter commented it was still chewy in comparison to the bakery or supermarket bread but she didn't mind. So I'll put up with the wet dought and make this one regularly. My daughter even liked it's shape even though I pretty much let the dough choose its own shape. :)

My first suggestion is that you try the overnight, no-knead method. You can mix up the ingredients the night before (no kneading, just mixing), leave it on your worktop in a food-storer, then when you come home from work the next evening, you can fold it a few times, shape it - in any shape you like - let it prove and then bake it. The long proving adds lots of flavour. As others have said, reduce your wholemeal flour (to 30%, perhaps?), then gradually increase it as and when you feel the time is right.

Here's my take on the no-knead method, but you'll get lots more stuff on the subject on Google:

The second suggestion concerns your youngster. I make a lot of bread with children (I'm starting a 5-week course at a Children's Centre in Bridgwater, tomorrow afternoon), including my grandchildren 7, 9 and 11 years old. You should see the 7-year-old kneading bread - he really gets stuck in!

So here's a post on making bread with your youngster. Children and breadmaking were made for one another. I tell my young students (and their parents!) - "If you can't make a mess when you're breadmaking, when can you make a mess?"

I tried the no knead method for a while and know other people who rave about it, but for some reason it just didn't appeal to me. I kinda forgot why. I do know that I don't like the consistency of dough that's been in the fridge. And handling the dough is the best part of bread making! And the kneading is no issue because I have a breadmaker to do it for me. But I do like the folding and the shaping.

I will put it on my list of bread recipes to try though, thanks!

I involve my daughter as much as I can in all cooking I do. I think teaching your kids about food and cooking is as essential as teaching them manners or how to cross the road! But work, school and the usual routine often make us very time poor. One day when we have time, I'll let her make a loaf from start to finish with minimal instruction. I do think she'll get a real kick out of that.

In my original loaf I only used 25% wholemeal. I think I'll try a loaf with grains and seeds next. Though I think I love them more than my daughter does... At least the semolina in the Altamura has slightly more nutrients and fibre than white flour, so I'd be ok with her eating that one for a while.

PS: I've never been in Wagga, but I foster kittens that are brought over from there! It's not that far to Australian standards.

My children were all very "suspicious" when I started making bread too.

Here are the things that I've found have worked:

Getting them involved - we have a breadmaker which I use when I'm short of time and loading that up is always fun for them - the breadmaker got them used to the tastes of nicer bread without having a texture that is too far from the supermarket bread they used to eat, making breadsticks (you have to not mind mess or weird looking bread sticks). I have a rule that if you help to make something then you have to try it. There are some downsides - my 8 year old son (I have three children - he is the middle one) is better at making pancakes than I am (including flipping them!)

Keep at it - it took a while but recently there have been comments like "I like your bread daddy"

Lie to them - seriously. I stopped calling the sourdough I make sourdough. The answer to "is it white bread?" is "yes" (despite the fact even my whitest breads have rye or spelt in them)

Also I made a batch of Crackers from the Ottolenghi cookbook (without the spices) and that got them into the idea things I make are more interesting than the shop bought rubbish (heh heh displaying my prejudices there - I started cooking again earlier this year because I'm trying to get thin and fit and processed food full of rubbish seemed a good thing to tackle first)

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